The Trump administration announced Friday it is revoking the visas of 49 Maduro-aligned officials and their families and sanctioning several top military and security officials, part of a major U.S. campaign to push contested Venezuelan PresidentNicolás Maduro from power. (Fox News)

The United States and South Korea announce that their annual large-scale exercises, commonly known as Foal Eagle and Key Resolve, will end and will be re-configured into smaller exercises. The joint exercises will be done on a small unit level and may include virtual training similar to the 2018 exercises. (CNN)

Tashonty Toney, son of a police officer, was arrested for vehicular homicide, vehicular negligent injury, hit-and-run and reckless operation of a motor vehicle after he veered into a bike line near a Mardi Gras parade route in New Orleans. He accidentally killed 2 and injured 7 cyclists while drunk and drugged. (fox8live)(Advocate)

A 4.6 magnitude earthquake is felt in central Alberta just before 6 a.m. The epicentre was determined to be just south of Red Deer, and is believed to be the result of tectonic activity east of the Rocky Mountains. No structural damage or injuries are reported, and it is unlikely to cause aftershocks. (Global News)

The Trump administration announces it will allow lawsuits by U.S. citizens against dozens of Cuban companies and other entities concerning property confiscated by the Cuban government. A spokesperson says Cuba's support for Venezuela's incumbent president, Nicolás Maduro, was taken into consideration when the decision was made. (Reuters)

The United States Department of Justice announces that former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker has resigned from the Department, with his final day in the department having been March 2. He had remained in the Department as a senior counselor to the Associate Attorney General after his stint as acting Attorney General. (AP)

With a fire causing new damage to a power plant in Bolívar State, President Nicolás Maduro states the power outages are "caused by U.S.-backed sabotage"; Guaidó says the outages are due to Maduro government "corruption and mismanagement". (MSN)(SFGate)

A Japanese high-speed boat collides with a "marine creature" while carrying 121 passengers; 87 passengers are injured and 5 airlifted by helicopter to the hospital. (CNN)

In an annual report, the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service warns that Russia will "very likely" try to intervene in European parliamentary elections this May to undermine unity within the European Union "by sowing disorder and disbelief" within and between the 28 European Union member states. (Sky News)

A college admission scheme across the United States results in the indictment of over 50 people including athletic coaches, CEOs, and two Hollywood actresses, accused of using bribery and fraud in order to cheat their children into universities such as Yale and Stanford. (CNN)(Reuters)

CardinalGeorge Pell, the most senior official of the Catholic Church to be convicted of sexual abuse to date, is sentenced to six years in prison for the sexual assault of two children in the late 1990s. (CNN)

Prominent Venezuelan journalist Luis Carlos Díaz [es] is released after being taken by SEBIN, the national intelligence service, on Monday; he has been ordered not to speak of his time in detention or publish anything. (The Guardian)

The UK's parliament rejects Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal by 149 votes. A vote for leaving the European Union without a deal is scheduled for the thirteenth of March. If Parliament rejects the decision to leave with no deal, the UK could request its withdrawal from the EU be postponed with the unanimous consent of the other 27 member states. (The New York Times)

The SOHR reports that Syrian government shelling and Russian air strikes occur in several areas in Idlib province, in the first such raids since a September truce deal, killing at least 15 civilians including eight children and wounding around 60. (TRT World)(Aljazeera)

Canada and the United States ground all Boeing 737 Max 8 and Max 9 aircraft and ban the jet from their airspace until further notice. It is now effectively grounded worldwide, with no operators remaining unaffected by grounding orders. (CBC)(BBC)(CNN)

An avalanche on Ben Nevis kills two French nationals and a Swiss national. A fourth climber is injured and is receiving treatment at a hospital in Glasgow. (BBC)

Health and environment

At least 111 schools in Malaysia are shut down following the treatment of 200 children, staff, and others being poisoned. Authorities suspect that a chemical dump in the southern state of Johor is responsible for the sudden illnesses. (Reuters)(CNBC)

Ali Bashar confesses in court in Germany to killing teenager Susanna Feldmann. Bashar is a failed asylum seeker from Iraq. The case prompted national debate and a pledge by Angela Merkel to call for improvements to the deportation system in Germany. Counterterror police traveled to Iraq in order to return him to Germany, as he had already been deported when he was identified in connection to the murder; Iraq has no extradition treaty with Germany. (BBC)

Two former military police officers are arrested in Brazil for the murders of Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Gomes. One of the suspects was arrested at home, in a Rio de Janeiro gated community where PresidentJair Bolsonaro also resides. Franco was born in a Riofavela and became a politician and activist against violence in the slums, which are often controlled by paramilitary groups. Her assassination prompted widespread protests. (The Guardian)

Two men, aged 17 and 25 years, attack a school in the Brazilian city of Suzano, São Paulo, with a revolver and a knife, killing eight and wounding 23 people, among students and staff. The two shooters committed suicideafter the attack. Police have found a crossbow, Molotov cocktails and a "suitcase with wires" at the scene. (G1)

Mexican authorities announce a national search operation is underway after revealing masked gunmen with a list of names stormed a bus on March 7 as it was traveling along a highway that connects the town of San Fernando with the city of Reynosa. The perpetrators kidnapped 19 people and they have not been seen since. (KTLA)

The UK's parliament votes against a no-deal Brexit. This greatly increases the chance of a delayed Brexit, to be voted on Thursday, as well as opening the door to the possibility of a second referendum. (CBC)

Prosecutors in Northern Ireland charge a former British Army soldier with murdering two people during the mass shooting in Derry during the Troubles in 1972, following a contemporary police investigation. The man, known only as Soldier F, is also charged with three attempted murders. It is also announced that no other charges against either soldiers or civilians will be brought due to insufficient evidence. Soldiers shot 28 unarmed protestors, killing 13. (BBC)

Four people—three men and one woman—are arrested in connection to the shootings, according to New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush. It is later learned that one of them was an armed citizen trying to help police and was released. (Sky News)

A U.S. appeals court denies TransCanada's request to lift an injunction preventing pre-construction work on the Keystone XL expansion from beginning. The company claims this will delay the project by a year. (CBC)

Thousands of demonstrators protest in Madrid against the trial of Catalan independence leaders and the ongoing detention of some of them. Local police say around 18,000 protestors were involved; organisers claim almost 120,000. (BBC)

NASA reports that it has detected a huge meteor explosion in Earth's atmosphere on December 18, 2018, above Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. The explosion went largely unnoticed due to its location. The explosion, which was ten times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, was the second largest of its kind in 30 years. (BBC)

The European Union confirms that UK Prime MinisterTheresa May's requested short extension date of 30 June is too late due to pending EU elections. After lengthy discussions, EU leaders agree that if the Prime Minister's deal is passed next week a short extension until 22 May is available to pass the necessary legislation. If that deal is not passed, the UK is given until 12 April to define whether it will participate in EU elections. (The Guardian), (The Guardian2)

Thousands have been forced to evacuate their homes as two potentially devastating cyclones are expected to hit the country this weekend. Cyclone Trevor will make landfall in the north near Numbulwar and Borroloola, while Cyclone Veronica, a Category 4 storm, will strike Pilbara on Australia's west coast. (BBC)

Officials report the death toll is now 62 from Thursday's chemical plant explosion in Chenjiagang Industrial Park in northeastern Jiangsu Province, with 94 others seriously injured and 28 people still missing. (BBC)(The Straits Times)

U.S. President Donald Trump removes sanctions targeting North Korea that were imposed Thursday by the Treasury Department on two Chinese companies. (Fox News)

The Inter-American Development Bank, Latin America’s largest development lender, cancels its scheduled annual 48-country meeting next week following China's refusal to allow a representative of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó to attend what would have been the first IADB meeting held in China. (Reuters)

Hundreds of thousands of Algerians again rally, this week in heavy rain and cold weather, against PresidentAbdelaziz Bouteflika demanding his immediate resignation. Bouteflika is fighting for his political survival in the face of unrelenting protests and the desertion of long-time allies. (Reuters)

Sports

The English Football League is to deduct Birmingham City F.C. nine points for breaching profitability and sustainability rules. Birmingham City are the first club to be deducted points since the EFL introduced its new profitability and sustainability regulations in 2016. (BBC)

The 2019 Global Teacher Prize and its $1 million (£760,000) purse is awarded to Brother Peter Tabichi, a Franciscan science teacher from rural Kenya. Tabichi gives away 80 percent of his salary to support poorer pupils at the Keriko Mixed Day Secondary School in Pwani Village, Nakuru. (BBC)

More than 60 school, county, city, child services and law enforcement officials, as well as mental health specialists, teachers and parents, hold an emergency meeting after the suicide of a second Stoneman Douglas survivor. Florida's emergency chief is requesting the state Legislature provide more mental health resources for the community. Coral Springs, Florida, police reported that, Saturday night, a current sophomore killed himself. Last week, Sydney Aiello, a 19-year-old graduate who had recently been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, took her own life. (The Guardian)(Miami Herald)

Flash flooding in the southern provinces of Iran kills at least 19 people and injures more than 100. The majority of the deaths occurred in the city of Shiraz. (BBC)

Health and environment

Bayer and Johnson & Johnson announce that they have reached a $775 million agreement to settle approximately 25,000 outstanding litigation cases, which claim that their drug Xarelto caused severe and sometimes fatal bleeding episodes. Bayer and Johnson & Johnson had successfully defended the safety of the drug in all six prior cases that went to trial. (The New York Times)

The all-female board of Women Church World, a monthly supplement in the L'Osservatore Romano (the Vatican City daily newspaper), resign citing a campaign to discredit them and put them "under the direct control of men". (BBC)

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission tells a judge in New York that she has the power to decide whether the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, violated the terms of his settlement with the SEC without holding a hearing, because there are no open issues of material fact. (SEC)

The European Parliament approves two revisions to the controversial Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market. One resolution includes new requirements aimed at making companies pay licensing fees to publications such as newspapers whose work gets aggregated by online services. The second revision makes online platforms such as Google, Facebook and YouTube liable for the content posted on their services, meaning that all content providers must get permission from rights holders before uploading copyrighted material of any kind. (The Guardian)

All charges against American actor Jussie Smollett for allegedly filing a false police report are dropped. (CNN)

The European Union says it is suspending Operation Sophia ship patrols. Instead, the operation will rely on air missions and close coordination with Libya. The EU also announces the mandate for Operation Sophia, which was scheduled to expire March 31, 2019, will be extended for six months. (AFP via Yahoo! News)

More than 100 migrants hijack a merchant vessel that rescued them off Libya's coast, ordering the crew to head towards Malta. Malta's military said the ship would not be allowed into its waters. (BBC)

James Alex Fields, who drove his car into a crowd of protestors at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, killing one person and injuring 28 others, pleads guilty to 29 federal hate crimes. He will be sentenced on July 3, 2019. (NBC)

Former Argentine PresidentCarlos Menem is sentenced to 3 years and 9 months in prison for the sale of a goverment ground. His government's Minister of EconomyDomingo Cavallo was also sentenced to 3 years and 6 months. In addition, both were disqualified from holding public office for life. As Menem is currently a National Senator and has immunity, he will not comply with his sentence yet. (CNN in Spanish)

The UK parliament holds "indicative votes" on eight options regarding Brexit in an attempt to find an approach which can command a majority. None of the options are passed at this stage; however, a further round of voting is planned for Monday. (CBC)(The Guardian)(The Guardian)

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal dismisses six nullity proceedings against the presidential candidacy of Thelma Aldana. However, it accepts two processes and requests the Supreme Court of Justice, the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Comptroller General of Accounts to present a report on their legal situation. It was also reported that after resolving these processes this week, it will proceed to issue the credential that grants immunity to the candidate. (Prensa Libre)

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal acts legally before the Constitutional Court to appeal the permission granted to the presidential candidate Zury Ríos to participate in the elections despite having constitutional impediment. (Prensa Libre)

At least 18 people have died after a truck struck a crowd gathered at a road accident in western Guatemala. The group had apparently gathered on the road to inspect a person who had been killed in a separate crash when the vehicle ploughed into them. The estimates of those dead were later revised by officials. (Sky News)(Reuters)(BBC)

A fire breaks out in Dhaka, Bangladesh, at a 22-story tower, killing at least 25 people and injuring more than 70 others. (BBC)

Law and crime

The Supreme Court of the United States rejects a request by gun rights activists to grant a temporary stay on the Trump administration's ban on bump stock attachments that allow semi-automatic firearms to be fired rapidly. The policy took effect Tuesday after a similar bid to delay implementation was rejected. (Reuters)

Brunei defends its decision, despite global criticism, to implement laws that can punish homosexuality, adultery and rape with the death penalty, including by stoning, and theft with amputation, as of Wednesday, April 3, 2019. (Reuters)

Pope Francis says the plight of migrants was "a wound that cries out to heaven". He added, "The issue of migration will never be resolved by raising barriers, fomenting fear of others or denying assistance to those who legitimately aspire to a better life for themselves and their families". (Reuters)

Tunisian authorities acknowledge they are detaining Tunisian national Moncef Kartas, a UNLibyan arms embargo monitor who has diplomatic immunity. Tunisia says Mr. Kartas had traveled in a private capacity on his Tunisian passport. The United Nations has called for his release and for Tunisia to clarify the reason for his arrest. (Reuters)(Al Jazeera)

Thirty men are sentenced in Egypt for planning an attack on a church in Alexandria, with eighteen men receiving life sentences and twelve men receiving between ten to fifteen years in prison. (The New York Times)

On the one year anniversary of the Gaza border protests, tens of thousands of Palestinians gather on the border to commemorate the weekly gatherings. Four Palestinian protesters have been killed and more than 300 wounded according to Palestinian health officials. (BBC)(Sky News)

Voters in Ukraine go to the polls today in the first round of the presidential election. PresidentPetro Poroshenko is seeking re-election, with comedian Volodymyr Zelensky and former Prime MinisterYulia Tymoshenko the primary challengers. All three have expressed largely pro-European views. Former Vice Prime Minister Yuriy Boyko is the front-runner among the pro-Russian candidates. A total of 39 candidates are on the ballot, increasing the probability no candidate will win more than 50 percent of the votes. If so, the top two will meet in a second round on 21 April. (BBC)

Anti-corruption candidate Zuzana Čaputová of the Progressive Slovakia party wins the second round of Slovakia's presidential election, defeating the governing party candidate Maroš Šefčovič, 58 percent versus 42%. She will be the country's first female head of state. (BBC)